Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 18, 2004Grand Forks County, Steele County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 2004, 7:15 PM CDT for Grand Forks County, Steele County, North Dakota. It was in force for 45 min. 8 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Jul 18, 2004, 7:15 PM CDT (00:15 UTC)
Expired: Jul 18, 2004, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Grand Forks County, ND, Steele County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 30 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:15 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Jul 18, 7:28 PM CDT	TORNADO	6 S Northwood, ND
Jul 18, 7:28 PM CDT	TORNADO	6 S Northwood, ND
Jul 18, 7:30 PM CDT	TORNADO	Golden Lake, ND
Jul 18, 7:30 PM CDT	TORNADO	Golden Lake, ND
Jul 18, 7:43 PM CDT	TORNADO	4 S Northwood, ND
Jul 18, 7:43 PM CDT	TORNADO	4 S Northwood, ND
Jul 18, 7:43 PM CDT	TORNADO	4 Sw Hatton, ND
Jul 18, 7:43 PM CDT	TORNADO	4 Sw Hatton, ND

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 18, 6:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 315 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 2541 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -155 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1628 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 172 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 230 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 5.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WFUS53 KFGF 190015
TORFGF
NDC035-091-190100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
715 PM CDT SUN JUL 18 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  GRAND FORKS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA   
  NORTHEASTERN STEELE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 800 PM CDT.

* AT 710 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  NORTHWOOD...OR ABOUT 32 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GRAND FORKS...MOVING TO
  THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  NORTHWOOD AT 720 PM AND
  GOLDEN LAKE AT 735 PM.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY BUILDING.

LAT...LON 4782 9768 4768 9786 4742 9749 4770 9750

$$

HOPPES

The office that day

Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 18, 7:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Traill	43 min
Jul 18, 8:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Barnes	52 min
Jul 18, 8:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Cass, Steele	44 min
Jul 18, 9:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Barnes, Cass	46 min
Jul 18, 10:00 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FGF	Cass	8 hr
Jul 18, 10:01 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Cass	29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes in 2004

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.